Ankle supporting athletic shoe



July 19` M. sHAPlRo ANKLE SUPPORTING ATHLETIC SHOE Filed April 1'6.,195s lNvENTR .MARTI N SHAPI RO States arent4 Patented July19, 19602,945,309 ANKLE SUPPORTING ATHLETIC SHOE Martin Shapiro, 7021 BrentwoodRoad, Philadelphia 31, Philadelphia County, P

Filed Apr. 16, 1959, ser. No. 805,843 a claims. (ci. ca -8.5),

My invention relates to shoes primarily intended for athletes,particularly baseball players, although capable t tended for athleticand non-athletic wear but none so far as -I am aware has achievedmaterial commercial acceptance because, among `other reasons, ofineffectiveness in laffording the desired support While permittingfreedom of movement of the Ifoot with respect to the leg, discomfort tothe wearer, tendency to chafe or x ibind and unsightliness ofappearance.

It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide an anklesupporting shoe particularly adapted for wear by baseball players,though not of course limited thereto, which is devoid of the inherentobjections in shoes heretofore proposed for that purpose and thereforecapable of affording appropriate support to the `wearers ankle whilepermitting freedom of movement of the foot in -all -directions withoutbinding, chang or other objectionable consequences.

A yfurther object is the provision of a shoe of the character aforesaidwhich is of pleasing appearance, not bulky and devoid of metallic orother stitfening elements yet whichcan be produced at a cost notmaterially, if any, greater than similar shoes of like quality notembodying the invention.

, Still other objects, advantages and novel features of design,construction and arrangement comprehended by the invention arehereinafter more fully pointed out' or will be apparent to thosefamiliar with the art yfrom the following description of a preferredform thereof as embodied in the right shoe of a pair of baseball shoesand illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the shoe;

lFig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section looking towardthe lining on the right hand side of the shoe, a portion of the liningbeing broken away to better show internal construction;

Fig. 3 is a lfur-ther enlarged fragmentary vertical section on line 3 3in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a view generally similar to Fig. 2 but looking toward theouter face of the upper on the left hand side of the shoe.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the shoe illustratedtherein as one of a pair of substantially similar matched shoes,comprises the usual sole 1, upper 2 and lining 3 all desirably ofleather with the lining extending throughout the interior of the upperthough if preferred it may be lterminated short of the toe portion ofthe latter. The shoe may also comprise the usual counter 4 outside ofthe heel portion of the upper and these several parts are securedtogether and to the sole by stitching in the usual way, eyelets 5passing through the upper and lining being provided for reception oflaces 6. It will be understood that in general a shoe embodying myinvention is of ordinary construction in respect to the Ifeaturesalready mentioned so that lfurther description of these several partssave as they may be modified in -accordance with it would besuperfluous.

In an ordinary low shoe, however, the upper terminates in -a curvededge, somewhat as indicated in a broken line a in Fig. 1, running fromthe vamp about the heel and thence to the vamp on the other side at aheight above the sole such that it lies approximately 1" below the anklelbone of the wearer, but in accordance with my invention the upper isextended upwardly so as to terminate about at the lower part of saidbone from which it extends forwardly to the vamp and rearwardly aroundthe heel which is correspondingly heightened. Moreover, in the vicinityof the said bone and for an appropriate distance on each side of asubstantially vertical plane running through the center of the latterthe upper is slit downwardly at a plurality of preferably about equallyspaced points thereby providing a series of substantially similar flaps=10 in length approximating or slightly exceeding the increased heightof the upper above that in an ordinary shoe; thus if -the height of theextension -approximates 1 the slits preferably detine llaps ofsubstantially corresponding length.

In a similar way lining 3 which of course is extended upwardly toconform to the upper is similarly slit to provide a series of flaps 11corresponding to those in the upper and registering therewithrespectively when the shoe and upper are assembled, and between each ofthe two series ofllaps and extending yfor a short distance forwardly andrearwardly therefrom and to the lower ends of the slitsis disposed ailat piece of elastic lfabric 12 with its upper edge substantiallycoinciden't with the upper ends of the flaps. The several parts justdescribed are secured together by at least one row of stitching 13running around and close to the edge of the ilaps and transversely tothe latter just below the lower extremities of the sli-ts, thisstitching preferably being continuous.

It results that the elastic fabric 12 is held firmly in place by thestitching between each pair of registering inner and outer flaps whichare also united thereby, the fabric bridging each of the slits 14between adjacent pairs of flaps as well as the slits 14 at each end ofeach series between the outermost flaps thereof and the proximateportions ofthe upper and lining between which the ex* tremities of thefabric are interposed. -It will be understood, however, that while theuse of continuous stitching 13 is preferred, continuity is not essentialfor if desired each pair of registering ilaps `and the -fabric betweenthem may be stitched together by individual stitching running around theedges of the llaps and either terminating a little below the lower endsof the slits or carried across just proximate the lower ends of thellaps, in which case each set of stitching thus forms a completerectangle.

Whether the stitching bordering the flaps be continuous, however, eachjuxtaposed pair of flaps 10, 11.with the interposed elastic materialform a somewhat stiff though flexible unit or tongue generallydesignated 1S. T-hus when the shoe is in use -the series of tongues oneach side of the shoe aford appropriate support to the ankle since eachtongue tends on the exertion of lateral pressure against its `face tobend as a whole about its juncture with the upper before bendingappreciably on itself whereby in accordance with the motion of the footwith respect to the wearers leg either series of tongues can flex as awhole with respect to the upper or the individual tongues can similarlyfllex, or both, so that at all times a snug lit is obtained and thedesired support accorded without chafing or binding, while theresilience of fabric 12 spanning the slits enables the foot i to beflexed vertically (Fig. 4) with the utmost freedom yet withoutdetracting `from the lateral support afforded by the shoe as a whole. Infact, the action ofthe shoe may perhaps be compared to some extent tothat of va human hand if the fingers thereof were connected by elasticwebs in that each finger could then bend forward and backward relativelyto the palm while itself maintaining some inherent stiffnessinsufiicient, however, to prevent its bending on itself, the fingersbeing normally held together by the interposed elastic Webs but capablewhen required of angular separation from the adjacent finger against the4bias the elastic web exerts.

The shoe of my invention, therefore, is adapted, without sacrifice ofcomfort, to afford substantial support to the areas or zones inwhich itis most urgently required by the wearer when engaged in athletic events,particularly baseball, while preserving. his normal capacity to bend orflex his foot in any `direction and,

it is believed, the invention therefore .marks a distinct advance in theart.

It is to .bfe -understood that while I have referred particularly to theuse of stitching to unite the elements comprised in each of tongues 15,the employment for this vpurpose of other suitable means, such asmetallic fasteners or adhesives, sometimes may be preferred.

While I have herein described and illustrated with considerableparticularity a preferred embodiment ofthe invention as incorporated inan athletic shoe particularly designed for use by baseball players, itwill be understood that Ido not thereby desire or intend to limit thein- -vention to a shoe of that character as it maybe embodied with equaladvantage in many other types of shoes, while changes and modificationsin the design, construction, arrangement and method of assembly of thevarious elements employed may be varied in numerous particulars withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the UnitedStates:

1. A shoe comprising an upper of height adapted to terminate proximatethe ankle bone of the wearer and slitted from its upper edge at spacedpoints between the vamp and counter on each side of the shoe to providean outer series of flaps, a lining at least 'coextensive with the upperrearwardly of the vamp and similarly slitted to provide spaced series ofinner Vflaps respectively registering with those in the upper, elasticmaterial interposed between the upper .and Ilining covering the areadefined 4 t by each series of inner and outer flaps, and means unitingeach pair of registering flaps with the interposed material to form aunitary tongue.

2. A shoe comprising an upper terminating proximate the ankle bone ofthe wearer and slitted from its upper edge at spaced points between thevamp and counter on each side of the shoe to provide an outer series ofiiaps, a lining at least coextensive with the upper rearwardly of thevamp andsirnilarly slitted to provide spaced series of inner flapsrespectively registering with those in the upper, elastic materialinterposed between the upper and lining covering 'the area defined byeach series of inner and outer yaps, and stitching bordering the edgesof the flaps and uniting each registering pair thereof with theinterposed elastic material to thereby form a unitary tongue, thetongues in each series being joined by those portions of said materialbridging the slits between them.

3. A shoe comprising an upper of height adapted to ydispose a portion ofits upper edge closely beneath the ankle bone of the wearer and a liningat least eoextensive with the interior of the upper between the vamp andcounter and means uniting t-he upper Vand lining, both upper and liningbeing slitted downwardly from their upper edges on each side of the shoeto provide between the vamp and counter a series of flaps, the flapsinthe lining respectively registering with those in the upper, elasticmaterial interposed between the flaps in each yseries and bridging thespaces -formed by the slits between the juxtaposed pairs of flaps, andstitching bordering the edges of each pair of juxtaposed flaps andextending through both yand the interposed ela-Stic ma- `terial tothereby 'form a unitary tongue connected solely to the adjacent tonguesby said material, whereby each tongue can flex laterally of the shoeabout its juncture with the unslitted portions of the upper and lining,each series of tongues can flex laterally as a whole and capacity fordownward bending of ythe sole of the shoe is afforded by the bridgingportions of the elastic material.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS212,794 Emerson Mar, 4, 1 879 1,110,624 Guiffre Sept. 1'5, 19142,274,085 Mitulski Feb. 24, 1942 2,361,675 Atkins Oct. 31, 19442,656,620 Taylor Oct. 27, 195,3

